7 Nights: Athens to Malta

Booking Dates

12/27/2018 through 10/12/2019

Travel Dates

12/27/2018 through 10/22/2019

Provider

Star Clippers

These are true clipper ships reflecting their proud heritage in every inch of their polished brass and gleaming brightwork. Step aboard these unique vessels and discover a new age of sail, where the traditions of the past are happily married to the comforts and amenities of the present day. Star Clipper and Star Flyer are modern cruise ships in every way, created for luxury-loving passengers who also love the traditions and romance of the legendary era of sailing ships. Star Clipper and Star Flyer are both 360 feet long and each carries just 170 guests in pampered comfort.

Athens

ATHENS — Athens provides a good study in how the New South coexists with the Old South. A lively music scene
(supported by students from the University of Georgia) flourishes in the bars, clubs and coffeehouses of the restored
downtown (it brought the world such bands as R.E.M. and the B52s). But you don’t have to look far to find the Old South: It’s apparent in the many Greek Revival homes and buildings that dot the city, the best example being the Taylor-Grady House. The University of Georgia, across the street from downtown, boasts a number of these Greek Revival buildings, including Demosthenian Hall and the president’s house. The university is where you’ll also find the Georgia Museum of Art (a collection heavy in 19th- and 20th-century American and Italian Renaissance paintings). Off campus you’ll find the Church-Waddel-Brumby House, the oldest surviving residence in the city, now serving as the visitors center. Athens is also home to the fragrant State Botanical Gardens of Georgia. Nature trails wind through the gardens of native flora — the rose garden is especially nice (it blooms May-November). Southeast of Athens in Washington is the Robert Toombs House, the restored home of a recalcitrant Southern politician who hated the North for political reasons and hated the Confederacy almost as much for not electing him president. One of the least mellow individuals the smooth-as-silk South has produced, Toombs never gave up his secessionist fervor or his cantankerous manner. 66 mi/106 km east of Atlanta.

Gozo Island

Small island off Malta

Malta

Malta, (môl´te) officially Republic of Malta, republic (1995 est. pop. 370,000), 122 sq mi (316 sq km), in the Mediterranean Sea S of Sicily, comprising the islands of Malta, Gozo (Ghawdex), and Comino (Kemmuna). Valletta is the capital. The economy is supported by tourism, light industry, agriculture, and shipbuilding. The polyglot population is a mixture of Arab, Sicilian, Norman, Spanish, Italian, and English. Maltese (a Semitic language) and English are the official languages, but
Italian is widely spoken. Roman Catholicism is the state religion. Malta is governed by a unicameral parliament, a prime minister, and a cabinet.

Monemvasia

The farthest finger of the Peloponnese. The Laconic gulf on the west, the Mirtoo Sea on the east. Along both coasts and at some distance from the sea there are scattered villages. One beach after another and then another even larger. Everything baked by the sun and basted by the sea. On the southern coast of the peninsula, looking onto the Mirtoo Sea stands the former Byzantine-Venetian fortress-state of Monemvassia, on its rocky promontory. From afar it looks as if it
could be an island. In Greek Monemvassia means one entrance: the long causeway joining it to the mainland was and is the only access to the rock. Castles and ramparts, old mansions, little houses, narrow lanes paved with stone slabs, churches with crumbling facades, old low archways, and semi-destroyed stairways.

Syracuse

On the East coast of Sicily is the city of Syracuse. Some people says that it has the best natural harbour of Italy. Once a great rival to ancient Athens, the old city is based in a small island next to the coast and contains many historical buildings. Archimedes lived and died here. Catania is a city that dates from the 18th century, reconstructed after a series of earthquakes. Mount Etna, the greater active volcano of Europe, is close and its continuous eruption attracts many tourists.

Visit the archaeological museum Paolo Orsi. Break for lunch in a noble villa in the gulf in front of the island of Ortigia. Explore the city and its monuments, such as the Greek theather and the Dyonisus’s Ear. Tour Ortigia, historical centre of the city and visit Palazzo Bellomo to see paintings by Caravaggio and Antonello da Messina.

Valleta

The capital city of Valleta is an historic walled city, dating from the Renaissance. Its current population is less than 10,000 inhabitants, and it is built on a rocky peninsula that separates Grand Harbor from Marsamxett Harbor.